2026-04-21

I move: That Dáil Éireann: recognises that: — the State is systematically failing children with additional educational needs, their families, and the professionals who support them; — there is a chronic and worsening shortage of appropriate school places, denying children access and forcing other children to travel excessively long distances, often outside their own communities; — special schools for children with Mild General Learning Disabilities (MGLD) are being redesignated in practice and by stealth; — early intervention classes are being closed at a time when demand for early support has never been higher; — the vast majority of new special classes announced have been allocated to autism or Autism Spectrum Disorder, reflecting a continued pattern of concentration of provision in one category of support, despite the fact that students across the country present with a wide range of learning needs, including MGLD and language disorders, that require different educational supports and approaches; — the proposed changes in relation to access to school places based on assessment and diagnosis have the potential to further redesignate classes and or schools, dilute expertise in special education teaching and support; — access to essential therapies, both in school and in the community, is disgracefully lacking; — the inclusive special classes announced by the Government last week are no such thing, offering the same level of support with larger class sizes, they are a further diminution of support, introduced with no consultation; — Ireland has the largest class sizes in Europe, a reality that affects all children and particularly children with additional educational needs; — the decision to remove "complex needs" from the Special Education Teaching (SET) allocation criteria was a deliberate act of rationing, designed to reduce access to support under the guise of reform; — access to Special Needs Assistants (SNAs) remains restricted by an outdated Circular that ties support narrowly to "primary care needs", denying access to children with behavioural, sensory, emotional and communication needs; — the National Council for Special Education (NCSE) has an impossible task, and is forced to function as a rationing and gatekeeping body; — the Minister for Education and Youth has failed to provide the exact number of children with additional needs still awaiting an appropriate school place for the 2026/2027 academic year, disaggregated by county and educational setting (primary/post-primary, special class/special school); and — the system of inclusive education in Ireland is fundamentally broken, and as demand continues to rise, the State's response has been to ration access to essential supports in order to save costs, rather than to meet needs; condemns the Government for: — its abject failure to strategically invest, plan, and deliver appropriate school places and supports for all children with additional needs; — effectively denying children access to education based solely on their additional needs, thereby violating their fundamental rights; and — creating an environment where parents are forced to resort to legal action to vindicate their children's basic right to education; calls on the Government to: — establish an all-party Oireachtas Committee on the future of inclusive education, by June 2026, mandated to hear from all education stakeholders in a full public forum, and to report back with legislative and policy recommendations within 12 months; — immediately publish the exact number of children with additional needs still awaiting an appropriate school place for the 2026/2027 academic year, broken down by county and educational setting (primary/post-primary, special class/special school); — ensure that additional funding is provided to meet the unanticipated demand for school places for September 2026, to guarantee it does not reduce resources and funding elsewhere in the Department of Education and Youth; — immediately engage with the Save Our SNAs campaign to advance and implement their updated and improved Circular, ending the current cruel and arbitrary restriction of SNA access; — advance the SNA Redeployment Scheme and SNA Workforce Development Plan, in consultation with SNAs, to ensure recognition of their invaluable and expanded role; — immediately stop the cuts by stealth, redesignations and initiative announcements without consultation; — guarantee an appropriate school place, not merely an offer of a place, for every child with additional educational needs for September 2026; — reaffirm that genuine inclusion means the right of every child to attend their local school, alongside their peers, neighbours and friends; — expedite access to essential supports, including speech and language therapy, occupational therapy and psychological services within the school setting; — initiate an independent review of the role, function, and resourcing of the NCSE and Special Education Needs Organisers to improve efficiency, transparency and performance; — review and immediately increase the Special Education Teaching allocation model, to reverse the removal of complex needs from the qualifying criteria, and to ensure allocation is based on need rather than artificial caps or historical ratios; — commit to a multi-annual programme of class size reduction, reducing the average class size to at least the European Union average, beginning in Budget 2027, recognising that smaller classes are a prerequisite for inclusive education; — establish a time-bound school building delivery task force, with a mandate to ensure the expeditious and priority delivery of special schools and special classes, this task force must include relevant technical and departmental expertise and incorporate continuous engagement with local school communities and parents; and — to immediately reverse the decision to reintroduce Leaving Certificate and Junior Cycle fees, and to roll back the hike in school transport fees, including the doubling of fees for secondary students and the 33 per cent increase for primary pupils, in recognition of the ongoing cost-of-living crisis; and resolves that the current model of inclusive education is a failure, rejects the Government's rationing-by-stealth approach, and demands an immediate shift towards a properly resourced system, that guarantees equal access and opportunity and where no child is left behind, this shift will be well informed through the hearings of an all-party Oireachtas Committee on the future of inclusive education. Across the State, thousands of families have been failed, ignored and exhausted by a system that claims to offer inclusive education but instead delivers ration, denial and despair. The State is systematically failing children with additional educational needs. That is not hyperbole; that is the lived reality of parents forced into legal action to vindicate their child's most basic right, the right to an education. It is the reality of children travelling impossible distances outside of their own communities because there is no school place for them at home. It is the reality of children who are lucky to have a school place but who are there for an hour a day because the support simply is not there. It is also the reality of professionals, principals, teachers, special needs assistants, SNAs, and therapists who are forced to work in a system that fails children and who themselves are not adequately supported. Time and again, whether it be access to SNAs, language disorder classes, mild-general learning disability special schools or early intervention classes, the Government's response is diminution, cuts by stealth and reduction or withdrawal of support - in some cases, withdrawal of support before that support even materialises. It is cutting corners and it is cutting children off. The removal of complex needs from the special education teaching allocation criteria is another example of this - a deliberate act of rationing disguised as reform. The Government and the National Council for Special Education, NCSE, restrict SNA access through an outdated circular that ties support to narrow primary care needs, ignoring behavioural, sensory, emotional and communication needs. They force parents to the courts to vindicate their children's rights and spends millions of taxpayers' euro in the process. We have the largest class sizes in Europe. For children with additional needs, that really is devastating. The Minister, Deputy Helen McEntee, as Minister, did nothing about this. Will the Minister, Deputy Naughton, be the same? Sinn Féin condemns this Government's abject failure to plan, invest and deliver. It is violating children's fundamental rights but condemnation is not enough; we need action. We need a guarantee of appropriate school places for every child for September 2026, not merely an offer of a place but a real place. We need expedited access to speech and language therapy, SLT, occupational therapy, OT, and psychological services within schools. We need an independent review of the NCSE and special educational needs organisers, SENOs. We need the special education teaching, SET, allocation model reviewed and increased, reversing the removal of complex needs. We need a multi-annual programme to reduce class sizes to at least the EU average, starting in budget 2027. We need a timebound school building delivery task force. We need an all-party Oireachtas committee on the future of inclusive education to be established in June 2026. This would be a Sláintecare committee for inclusive education to build a cross-party consensus on the long-term vision for inclusive education in Ireland and to make policy recommendations. We need the exact number of children without a school place for September published immediately. We need the cuts by stealth stopped. We need an end to the cruel restriction of SNA access. I ask the Minister to please engage with the Save Our SNAs campaign and advance their updated circular now. In this cost-of-living crisis that the Government seems so oblivious to, we need to reverse the reintroduction of exam fees and the hike in school transport fees. The current model of inclusive education is broken. Rationing by stealth must end. No child should be left behind. I ask the Government to please support this motion and let us begin the real work of building a system that guarantees equal access and opportunity for every single child.

Hear, hear.

This is not the first time we have brought forward proposals on special education during this Dáil term, nor is it the second or the third. This is Sinn Féin's fourth Private Members' business on special education. Despite our best efforts, every time we have brought forward solutions, the Minister and her Government have consistently let families and their children down. The issues are only getting worse. The recent SNA crisis, the closure of early intervention classes and having the largest class sizes in Europe show that this Government is failing our children. Tonight, in the Public Gallery, a young woman named Grace and her father are here. Her father has tirelessly advocated on her behalf and has lived experience of our special education system. She sent me a letter where she explains how her mild-general learning disability school has done so much for her educational and personal development. I really want the Minister and Minister of State to hear this. Grace wrote: Everything changed when I started at this school. I was finally given the space to learn at my own pace. This support has allowed me to thrive. I feel safe, happy and positive about my future. I have a great circle of friends and I feel welcome every day. However, I am worried that if you redesignate our school, other children who are just like me will not receive the opportunities I have. I am proof that this school works. Please protect our school's designation so that the children coming after me can also find their confidence. I agree with Grace. It is shameful that mild-general learning disability, MGLD, schools are being redesignated by stealth. The State can protect children like Grace tonight by supporting our motion, which calls for these redesignations to stop immediately. Over the weekend, I spoke with Linda in Kildare, who told me she could not get an appropriate school place for her child. She spends seven hours of her day in her car just to get her children to school and home again. Linda's children are considered the lucky ones because they actually have a school place. Meanwhile, there are children doing additional years in preschool because they have no school place and then there are children who the Government has completely abandoned. They have no choice but to remain at home, like Zoe. Her mammy, Rachel, wrote to me and told me her story. Zoe was in an inappropriate school place that did not meet her needs. She should be in first class now but has been homeschooled by Rachel for the past few years. She has told me that she has joined every possible waiting list but just cannot get a place for Zoe. Does Zoe not deserve to be in school, learning and playing with her peers? This is just another example of how children with additional needs are being treated as less than. Arís is arís eile, this Government is failing to deliver. Mar sin iarraim ar an Rialtas anocht ní hamháin chun tacú leis an rún seo, ach chun gníomhú air gan mhoill. Tá sé thar am ceartas a thabhairt do na páistí seo agus dá dteaghlaigh. Déanaigí an rud ceart.

Hear, hear.

The Government is sleepwalking children, families and schools into a crisis in September. It surely can see what is coming, yet for whatever reason it continues to fail children with additional needs. Across the State, children are still waiting for appropriate school places. In Waterford, I am in touch with so many parents crippled with worry, deeply angry that they are being forced to fight to secure a basic right to education. Educators are being forced to fight to protect their roles, out on protest to be allowed to continue supporting children. In their own words, I will tell two stories from constituents in Waterford. Sabrina is a mam. She told me her youngest is seven and non-verbal. They have no speech and language therapy. They cannot get equipment because there is no senior therapist to sign it off. They even had to take the HSE and the Department to the High Court just to get a school place. Katie, an SNA, said it is heartbreaking to see children still waiting for placements. She said they are severely understaffed and underpaid. The job is physically, emotionally and mentally demanding. There is no risk pay, even when staff are injured. They support safety, learning, communication and care all at once without the support needed to do it properly. We in Sinn Féin and parents and educators across the State have been warning of this for years but the Government has failed to act. Classes are being redesignated without consultation. Supports are being diluted. Children are being denied access based on need. The Government has failed to plan, failed to invest and failed to deliver. It is a political choice and it has always been a political choice but the Ministers have always made the wrong one. It needs to be reversed now.

As Cathaoirleach of the Committee of Public Accounts, last week I exposed that in recent years, the Department of education has spent over €2 million on legal costs and court settlements in cases involving families seeking appropriate school places. That is in addition to the €10.5 million spent by the State on legal defences to challenges by parents regarding assessments of need. This is an absolute insult to every parent fighting tirelessly for their child's basic right to education and to every child left without supports they need. This money was not spent on classrooms, special classes or additional supports but on defending the indefensible. This is public money wasted on adversarial legal battles against families who, as a last option, have to take legal action to vindicate their children's rights. Instead of planning effectively and investing adequately to ensure sufficient school places, the Government has chosen to meet vulnerable families in the courtroom. Parents are exhausted. They are frustrated. This will be another kick in the teeth to those who are already facing immense pressures. This situation lays bare the fundamental failures at the heart of special education provision. It is reactive. It is not proactive. It is adversarial and not supportive. This money should have been invested in additional special classes, SNAs and meaningful supports within our schools. The Government and the Minister must change course. They must commit to long-term planning and genuinely engaging with families and school communities because all our children deserve better. The Minister must support this motion and start proactively dealing with special education and putting the supports in place.

The way children with disabilities and their families are treated in this State is an absolute disgrace. We are here not just every year, talking about school places and appropriate school places for children with disabilities. We have tabled countless motions on a range of issues from school places to assessments of need to therapies children are being deprived of and are not getting. We do not see any action from Government. Parents are at their wits' end. They are tired, frustrated, angry and they see a broken system and a Government that is simply not fixing it. Worse than that, they feel gaslit when it comes to special classes. They are told to contact their local SENO. They contact the local SENO and get a list of so-called special classes and are told in each and every case that the classes are full or there is no availability. In some cases, they get 14 or 15 refusals. It is heartbreaking for a parent not to know if their child will have the appropriate class come September. I received dozens of emails and phone calls in advance of the debate today, from parents I have dealt with in the past and now unfortunately parents I have not dealt with before. They are coming into a system that they have seen fail so many other children. They are asking me why this is the case. It is not only that their child cannot get access to a special school place. The same children are on waiting lists for assessments of need, where the State is breaking the law in not providing a diagnosis, and waiting lists for therapies. The waiting lists are going nowhere. They are only getting bigger and children are waiting longer. That is the reality of what this Government has done. I do not know if the Ministers know the level of frustration and anger those parents have. They want the best for their child. They want an appropriate school place. They want their child to have the full developmental supports. They say to me that they are battling and battling the system every single day with no support. That is why we are here again today with our motion. We will keep coming back with motions until the Government gets it right and until children and families with disabilities are properly respected.

I make the point again that the whole fiasco in relation to SNAs was symptomatic of a wider attitude. An awful lot of SNAs and parents viewed it as the Department and the Government trying to pull a fast one, failing to recognise the manner in which the role of the SNAs has changed, even though it was apparent to everyone. It was entirely obvious to anyone who took the time to examine what an SNA how much the role has changed and how much more complex it is now, with the huge responsibilities they have now. The Government was trying to change the goalposts and doing things back to front, instead of evaluating correctly the current role. That is symptomatic. So much of this is back to front. I want to take the opportunity to mention once again, and I know the Minister of State will be particularly aware of it, the issue in relation to Carrigaline special school. I welcome the additional resources but more is needed, particularly in terms of the multidisciplinary piece. Like my colleagues, I think many issues need to be addressed. The issues with therapies are enormous. The waiting lists are getting bigger and bigger and the CDNTs are absolutely buckling under pressure, in Cork particularly but also across the State. I know there are excellent, very committed therapists in all of them but they are under incredible pressure to try to keep up. We are here yet again debating the issue of school places. I do not know how it is, the way it has been an annual occurrence every April, May and June that we have debates of this nature instead of it being resolved at the start of the year. It is totally unfair on parents who are trying to figure out what is happening in September. I will give one example of a girl, Tessa. I was speaking to her mother Jenna earlier. They have applied to eight schools, all of which refused or added her to waiting lists. They have since applied for three more. Her daughter is a flight risk and she is non-verbal. She is a single mother with two other children. She is under huge pressure and stress, trying to understand where her child is going to be. She is already in the system. She is in Sonas, a special education early years facility. She has two other children. She made the point to me that if they were missing for 20 days from school, she would be put under pressure but the State is not holding up its responsibility.

The existence of any school place is not the same as the existence of an appropriate placement. For autistic pupils, placements must be based on assessment of need, sensory profile, communication supports and the capacity of the receiving setting to provide a structured, autism-informed environment. Placing a child in an unsuitable setting can, as the Minister will know, lead to severe anxiety, regression in learning and school refusal. I have had many pieces of correspondence over the past week or so when people knew this motion was being put forward. I thank Deputies O'Rourke and Ní Raghallaigh for bringing this motion forward. I want to read out what I received from one teacher. She states: "As a teacher, a principal and a parent of a child with additional learning needs, Ireland has gone backwards when it comes to inclusive educaiton in schools. The Government brandishes the words around but inclusion without resources is only neglect. Who usually receives the brunt of the disillusionment from parents of these students? Us teachers. Twenty years ago, a child with additional needs was allocated resource teacher hours. They were allocated SNA hours, given ICT, etc. Now everything is given under a general allocation model. The scramble to create a cluster takes away the energy we have to condemn the miserable few hours we are presented with. SNA allocations have not changed for the next year. However, if like us you are screaming and begging for an increase in hours, you're told no can do. Will we still be begging this time next year? I want you to answer that question. I absolutely love teaching. I love the fun interactions with students in my class. I love watching children in my care progress even if that is slowly. I love the light bulb moments. I love the enthusiasm, the creativity. I love teaching but teaching has become more and more frustrating lately. We are implementing a brand-new curriculum starting next September. The curriculum has become more vast and diverse. Trying to share so much knowledge is not going to work especially when you add a varied class of students in the mix. It is nigh impossible to cater for everyone single-handedly, especially in multilevel classrooms. We try our best. I ask the Ministers to please listen to that teacher and parent.

As an elected representative, I can think of nothing more frustrating than every single year dealing with parents and families desperately trying to get what most of us take for granted, an adequate school place for their children. Every single year Ministers come to his House to tell us they are making changes and it will be better next year, but every single year, if anything, the situation gets worse. Every spring we are dealing with questions coming from not only parents and families, but also schools in many instances to get a clear image in terms of how many children are going to be catered for in each school, in each class, in each special school the following September. Invariably after all the turmoil and all the interactions, every September some children will be left behind. Every September and October we are still chasing either to get the SNA support or to get a place in the class that is appropriate to the needs of the children. It just has to stop and cannot go on. We have heard enough of the rhetoric. I am sick of the press statements. I am absolutely sick to my hind teeth of the responses I get from the Department when I make representations on behalf of individual students, real children with real needs, and I get this bland response telling me about the extra SNA resources, the extra school places and whatever but no specific detail that the family needs. It has to change. There has to be a complete change of approach within the Department and within the NCSE. We need to realise we are talking about human beings here. They are asking for what most of us take for granted, a place in the school that is appropriate to the needs of their children. I am asking the Government to support this motion but, more importantly, I am asking it to implement the provisions within it. We need to ensure that children get the education that they deserve and that they are entitled to.

I welcome this evening’s debate. It is important that we continue to shine a light on the area of special education to ensure that our children and young people with additional needs are supported in school to help them achieve their full potential. I appreciate and accept that some families and young people believe the system is not doing enough for them, but supporting young people with special educational needs is a priority for me as Minister for Education and Youth, and for my colleagues across government. Our track record is testament to that. In 2026, more than €3 billion will be spent on special education. This is the highest ever annual provision and represents a 58% increase over the funding provided in 2020. Since 2020, we have almost doubled the number of special classes in our primary schools, going from 1,319 to 2,629. We now have more than twice the number of special classes in our post-primary schools, going from 517 to 1,112. Some 16 new special schools have been opened and four more will open for the next school year, 2026-27. Special school enrolments have increased by 20% since 2020. More than 40% of special schools have benefited from new or upgraded buildings. We continue to invest in our special education teachers and SNAs, and there will be close to 22,500 SETs and approximately 25,000 SNAs in our schools by the end of the year. We are progressing the establishment of a new education therapy service, which will be introduced in 45 special schools to begin with. The first of these new therapists will be in post in the National Council for Special Education next month. Earlier this year, the Government also confirmed that there would be no reduction for any school in its allocation of SNAs for the coming school year. Separately, work is progressing to finalise a workforce development plan for SNAs, an SNA redeployment scheme and a new circular letter outlining the role of the SNA. Along with the Minister of State, Deputy Moynihan, I recently hosted a day-long engagement with SNAs and stakeholders on these issues and I want to see progress made on these matters as quickly as possible. I know that an alternative circular on the role of the SNA is in circulation, and I appreciate the bona fides of those who have drafted it. However, it is important to note that any changes that I or my Department will bring forward in this regard will be made as a result of close consultation and co-design with the trade union Fórsa, the recognised representative body for SNAs, in addition to SNAs and relevant stakeholder groups. This consultation will be reflected in the three key documents relating to SNAs that I plan to publish shortly, documents which have been co-designed with SNAs working in schools across every community in the State. Many more developments and initiatives are under way to support our children and young people with special educational needs and the Minister of State will speak to some of these in his contribution. It is worth highlighting that demand for education services has grown significantly in recent years, with 38,000 additional students added to the system in the past five years. Today, one in four children, or around 240,000 children, require extra supports. This has led to a very large expansion in special education services. Around 30,000 require specialist provision in special classes or special schools. There has also been a major increase in the number of children with additional needs, both in Ireland and internationally. To ensure these children receive the supports they need and to meet increased demand, the Government this morning agreed to additional funding for the provision of special education services for children across the country. This money will fund SETs, additional SNAs, increased capitation, access to school transport for children in special education settings and start-up grants for schools opening new special classes and inclusive special classes. For the balance of time remaining, I want to touch on two issues. The first one is to the forefront of the minds of many parents at present and that is the provision of school places for September. The second is plans for developing a more inclusive education system. My Department and the NCSE have engaged intensively on an ongoing basis over recent months with schools and stakeholders to plan for the provision of more special class and special school places for the coming school year. As Deputies will be aware, budget 2026 provided funding for up to 433 new special classes and up to 400 new special school places. As of last week, the NCSE had sanctioned 432 new special classes, a number of months ahead of last year. Utilising the additional funding secured at Cabinet, my Department and the NCSE will work to ensure that further new special classes can be confirmed as soon as possible. These new special classes will be mainly made up of regular special classes and some new inclusive special classes. These new inclusive special classes, five of which were announced last week, will receive the same level of resources and funding as regular classes and can support more children and young people to attend their local school with their peers. These new classes should also facilitate schools to support students to access mainstream classes for large parts of the day, something that is already happening in many of our schools, particularly at post-primary level. The inclusive special classes are supported by management bodies from the post-primary sector. My Department and the NCSE met with special education advocacy groups and parent representative bodies to discuss these new inclusive special classes last week and a further engagement is planned for tomorrow. I ask schools that are opening new special classes to progress now to run admissions processes and offer places to students. My Department's policy has long been to ensure that children's needs are met in the most inclusive school environment possible. For the vast majority of children and young people, this means they are supported to engage with education in mainstream classrooms every day. However, some children and young people with complex needs require much greater levels of support. My Department and the NCSE have worked very hard to ensure there are sufficient places in special classes and special schools in order that those students' needs are met. It is acknowledged that there is a significant body of work to do to ensure that greater opportunities are provided for inclusion for those students in particular. My Department is conscious, for example, of the obligations on us as a country arising from the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. This aligns with the previous policy advice published by the NCSE which challenges us to ensure the progressive realisation of a more inclusive education system. In that regard, a number of very significant developments will inform how a more inclusive education system can be developed. Following the review of the EPSEN Act, which was published last year, my Department has been finalising an implementation plan arising from that review. My Department has also been working to finalise a roadmap for inclusion that has been prepared by the European Agency for Special Needs and Inclusive Education on foot of a successful application to the EU's technical support instrument programme. This roadmap seeks to address the recommendations contained in the NCSE's policy advice on inclusive education. As mentioned earlier, my Department is also working hard to finalise and publish a workforce development plan for SNAs. I now intend to establish a forum of key stakeholders, including parents, advocates, representatives from schools, unions, patrons and interested parties, to deliver a high-level action plan on the next steps. This plan will be led by our stakeholders and by those with lived experience. It is intended that this forum will be independently chaired to ensure it can deliver the reforms required in a way that will bring cohesion to the system and provide stakeholder confidence in a robust and child-centred process that can be delivered to meet the needs of children and young people with additional needs. I will provide further information on this forum in due course. I appreciate that there is a significant body of work ahead of us, working together to agree a common consensus on the future of special education provision. To be clear, the Government is unwavering in its commitment to special education. It is committed to ensuring that young people with additional educational needs are helped to thrive and to prosper. Our track record and the next steps I have outlined are a testament to that.

On the 13th of this month a boy in my constituency turned six. Boys and girls his age organise parties, but there was no one to come to his party, only his family. He has been without a school place for a year. I contacted the NCSE about him last August and still he has no school place. It is nearly May and they still do not know whether he will have a school place in August. He is not alone; there are hundreds of other children like him. Every single year children - boys and girls - are forced to watch their friends, their family and their neighbours go down the road in their school uniforms with their schoolbags on their backs while they are left at home. It is a sin. It is a sin on these poor children to be left at home without a school place. Not alone is it a sin; it is illegal. It is illegal what this Government and what Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael have been doing to these children for years. This did not happen today or yesterday. For six years I have come in here every year fighting for children. I see mothers who have to be like warriors outside the doors of Leinster House and who walk the streets of Cork and Dublin and every town and village looking for places for their children. How can that be right? Every child has a right to an education. It states in the 1916 Proclamation that "all the children of the nation" will be treated equally. It does not say "except if you have additional needs", "except if you have a disability" or "except if you are autistic". Every child should be treated the same. I come in here and listen to Ministers. The Minister's speech here in my hand outlines all the Government is doing. I will tell her what it is doing. There are children who have no school places, and that is the Government's responsibility.

Before starting here, I taught in schools for 34 years, the last ten years in special education, but I have never seen things so bad in terms of the shortage of appropriate school places and SNA provision for those with behavioural, sensory, emotional or communication difficulties. The State is systematically failing these children, their families and the professionals I worked with. This week I have been contacted by school principals from the Wicklow-Wexford area, many distraught, with harrowing stories of struggles they face to get their children the education and the services they need and deserve. We have the new Gorey Hill School for students with special needs, which I know the Minister has visited. I met her there. That has a temporary building which is expanding into the grounds of the adjacent Gaelscoil, where I used to work, and that is now full. It will not be able to take a single student in September. It needs a new greenfield site for a bigger school. Some children cannot get school places in my area. Others may have to stay at home and wait another year, which is absolutely shocking, as my colleague pointed out. Public transport is a huge issue. Others said it would prevent them from actually going to school. The principal in Bearna Chlé, Johnstown, spoke of a shocking shortage of help in assessing assessment-of-need applications, with an allocation of just three hours per day. I also had a Kilmichael parent of three autistic children on to me. Another mother has to get a solicitor to get an assessment of need and had to travel to Cork. How did it come to this? I have been working for the past year on transport and I feel we have Groundhog Day coming up this summer. I am working with parents from the Castletown, Camolin, Bunclody and Gorey Educate Together areas, working with the Minister's Department and working with parliamentary questions and everything else. I have a feeling we will be back to square one in a couple of months' time. Lastly, there is Our Lady of Fatima School in Wexford being re-designated in a very underhand way. This has to stop. I ask the House to support the motion and guarantee that anyone who needs additional support will receive it in September.

Across the State, we do not know how many children with additional needs are waiting for an appropriate school place for the coming academic year, and that is deeply worrying. I note that in the Minister's opening statement she did not give us those figures, even though she probably knew we would ask her for them. I urge the Minister and the Minister of State to provide us with these details. They are really important to plan for anything. In the run-up to each academic new year I, along with other TDs, I am sure, get calls in my office from parents who have not received a school place, or, if they have, it is often in a setting that is not suitable for their child. It is wrong that parents must contact their local TDs on this matter. It is even more wrong that parents are compelled to take legal action to ensure that a child's right to an education is met. As we know, 22,000-plus children are waiting for an assessment of need alone. The Government looks at this challenge and opts out without appropriate consultation with disability groups to establish inclusive special education classes. There are simply larger classes with the same level of supports as previously, with no commitment to increase staffing. We have a broken system, and the Government seems determined to compound the failures in the system. The Government seems to be unaware that we face a crisis when the school holidays end. It seems that at every turn a parent of a child with additional needs must fight. It is battle after battle after battle. It is only a few short months ago that many of these parents rallied across the State in the Save Our SNAs campaign. Their advocacy forced the Government to change course. The Joint Committee on Disability Matters, which I chair, recently published a report on inclusive education for persons with disabilities. I urge the Government to read that report and to look especially at the Sky is the Limit programme, which operates in Corpus Christi Primary School in Moyross, in my constituency of Limerick City. It is a programme that embeds counselling, therapy and family support services within the school environment, thus allowing pupils and parents to access help that would otherwise be difficult for them to navigate. It is a model that could be looked at as part of the needed changes to how we deal with the issue of special education. We cannot keep rinsing and repeating this tired and outdated approach to special educational needs. We need to do much better.

Every year, year in, year out, we are at this, where parents scramble for places for their children with special educational needs, and every year it becomes clearer and clearer that this State is abjectly failing in its duty to these children. Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael have repeatedly failed children with additional educational needs, their families and the professionals who support them. The Government says it is spending more. Of course it is; our population is growing. An appropriate school place for children with additional needs is essential for their long-term development in order that they can become functioning adults. The last time I was speaking about special education I spoke about how some of these children are ending up in prisons. I spoke about one person in particular in Kildare who did. He is not costing the State any more money because the poor man is dead. He was denied the special education he needed and he ended up in jail. We have children who are travelling long distances to other schools outside their communities. Many children really struggle with this. I know of children from Meath coming to Kildare and vice versa. Children deserve to have their education in their local area, where they are making friends and they can go out an play on the road. Last year, we had a massive outpouring from parents who thought there was no other option but to sleep in tents on Marlborough Street, outside the Department of education. This is an absolutely desperate situation for these parents to be in. We have a great special school in Maynooth. I visited it recently and it is a great facility, but like most things the Government does it did not finish it. The car park is unsafe for the children. It is a gold-standard building, but it needs to be finished. The capitation grant does not meet the needs of children with special educational needs. Saplings Special School in Kill is struggling massively in its current premises, which is an old, dilapidated building, with toilets and sensory rooms that are well below par. Despite the fabulous staff, the schools are simply not fit for purpose. Toilet seats are broken and the capitation grant does not meet what these schools need.

This Government and this State do not cherish all the children of the nation equally when it comes to education. We are here discussing appropriate school places, inclusive education and ensuring that children have the correct supports they require. Unfortunately, we keep having this conversation because there is a continuity of failure to deliver. I will start with one example, but we could all probably list 50: Hi Ruairí, my name is Lisa, and I'm emailing regarding my son Matthew who attends an ASD class in a primary school in Dundalk. He's going to secondary school in September. I could not get him a place in an ASD class as they are so full he has to go to mainstream. My problem is that an SNA co-ordinator has told me that she can't promise him SNA access as they only have six between first and sixth year. Matthew is only coming 12 and still a flight risk. He can't even go out and play on the street without fear of him wandering off. He is a very trusting wee boy and would go off and speak to anyone. I don't think that he would be able to be left alone and go looking for classes or go to lunch on his own. He would wander off and would need constant supervision. She was told to contact a TD. That is what everyone gets told to do because we are not delivering the service required. My son, Turlough, who I have mentioned before, would not have stayed in school in St. Joseph's or in Ó Fiaich College, where he is absolutely thriving, without that support. I will also talk about another mother who has a seven-year-old child with Down's syndrome and autism who is non-verbal. I have been talking to the NCSE for the last two and a half months about the big issue that she has no appropriate place at present. She is too special for a special school, so that is a problem. Children are falling between stools all the time. We need to get serious and we need to offer a solution across the board, and not an absolute disaster of Private Members' motions and then an absolute mess every September.

The Labour Party will be fully supporting the motion. I thank Deputy Darren O'Rourke for tabling it. It is important to remember that behind all the statistics we discuss are children and families who are waiting, worrying and, too often, struggling to be heard. Special education is not an niche issue or an add-on to our system. It is a fundamental test of whether our education system is fair, responsive and genuinely inclusive. At present, that test is not being met. We are facing unprecedented demand for special classes and special school places for next September. The Department is aware that approximately 600 new special classes are required. While it is welcome that just over 430 classes have already been opened, there remains a shortfall of roughly 170 classes. That is not a marginal gap. It represents hundreds of children who, as we stand here today, do not know whether they will have an appropriate school place in a matter of months. The reality behind that shortfall is stark. It is parents ringing school after school - often dozens of schools - searching for a place for their child. It is families being turned away repeatedly, left navigating a fragmented and inconsistent system with no clear answers. It is stress, uncertainty and a sense that the system is simply not working for those who need it most. That cannot be allowed to continue. When I raised this issue at the Committee of Public Accounts in February, the Department indicated that a memo would be brought to the Cabinet outlining how this situation would be addressed. When representatives from the Department again appeared before the committee last Thursday, the memo had still not been sent. This raises a fundamental question about urgency. For the Department this may be part of the process, but for families it is their children's future. Every delay matters and every week without a clear plan adds to the uncertainty parents are already facing. We cannot simply remain in the cycle of criticism, followed by crisis response. What is required now is a shift in how we plan and deliver special education. We need to move from an ad hoc reactive approach to one that is ambitious, structured and forward looking. That is precisely what we have sought to do within the Labour Party. In our alternative budget, we proposed an additional €26.1 million in capital funding to accelerate the delivery of special classes and special schools. This is about ensuring that provision keeps pace with demand and that places are available locally at the start of the school year, not months into it. Alongside this we allocated funding for additional special education teachers and a significant number of special needs assistants, recognising that increased capacity must be matched with adequate funding and staffing. However, investment alone is not enough if the system through which places are allocated remains fragmented. One of the most consistent themes we hear from parents is not just the lack of places, but the absence of a clear, co-ordinated process to access them. No parent should have to call 20 or 30 schools, let alone 40, simply to secure a school place for their child. That is not a system; it is a burden that has been unfairly shifted onto families. This is why the Labour Party is proposing the introduction of a centralised application system for school places, covering mainstream and special education provision. We already have an example of how such a system can work on this island. In Northern Ireland, school admissions are managed centrally by the education authority through a single online portal. Parents submit one application and outline their preferences, and the system co-ordinates the allocation of their school places, including special provision. The value of that approach is not simply administrative; it is about fairness and clarity. It provides parents with a transparent process, clear timelines and confidence that the state is taking responsibility for ensuring their child has a school place. It also provides us as policy makers with real-time data on demand, allowing for more accurate planning and earlier intervention where gaps are emerging. We do not need to replicate that model in its entirety but we should certainly adopt its core principle: that the State, not parents should carry the responsibility for allocating school places, A centralised system in Ireland would allow for better co-ordination, earlier identification of demand and a far more efficient experience for families. It would move us away from our current situation, where those with more time, resources or knowledge are better able to navigate the system, while others are left behind. This speaks to the broader issue within special education. We are too often operating in a reactive mode. We respond when a crisis emerges, scramble to create additional places and attempt to resolve issues under pressure. What we need instead is forward planning, supported by robust data and clear structures, so that we are anticipating demand rather than chasing it. That same principle applies when we consider special needs assistants. The recent proposals that would have effectively removed SNAs for some children based on revised criteria led to a significant public outcry and rightly so. Any approach that appears to pit one child's needs against another undermines the very idea of inclusion. SNAs are not an optional support. They are essential to ensuring that many children can access education in a meaningful way. In our alternative budget, the Labour Party has not only proposed to increase the number of SNAs, but also proposed improvements to their working conditions and professional development. This includes the phasing out of the 72-hour obligation, supporting SNAs to achieve QQI level 6 qualifications, and ensuring that workforce planning reflects the realities within our schools. If we want a system that works, we must invest in the people who deliver it every day. We are also proposing the introduction of special educational needs co-ordinators as a formal post of responsibility within our schools at assistant principal level. One of the recurring challenges identified by schools is the lack of dedicated co-ordination for special education provision. Teachers and principals are managing increasingly complex needs alongside their existing responsibilities. A dedicated, co-ordinated role would improve planning, strengthen communication with parents and ensure that supports are delivered more effectively. Finally, I want to address autism provision. There are significant concerns about proposed changes to the autism class model. Organisations such as AsIAm Ireland have raised legitimate questions about whether these changes risk diluting specialist supports. Inclusion is a goal we all share, but it must be meaningful and properly resourced. It cannot come at the expense of the tailored supports that many children rely on. Labour's approach is to strengthen both inclusion and specialist provision. We propose an autism-friendly audit of every school building over a four-year period alongside investment in autism-specific training for all school staff and a full expansion of therapy supports, inclusive of occupational therapy and speech and language therapy, through the educational therapy support service for all of our schools. Education does not happen in isolation. Children must have access to the full range of supports they need to thrive. When we look at the system as a whole, the challenges are clear. There is a shortage of places, uncertainty for families and a structure that is too often reactive. The solutions are also clear, however. With proper investment, better co-ordination and a commitment to forward planning, we can build a system that meets the needs of every child. Ultimately, this comes down to responsibility. At present, too much of the burden is placed on parents, who are left to navigate an unclear and inconsistent system. That is not where the responsibility should lie. It is the role of the State to ensure that every child has access to an appropriate school place and the supports he or she needs. If we are serious about inclusion, we must move beyond ad hoc measures and short-term fixes. We must be ambitious in our planning, clear in our delivery and committed to building a system that works for families. Every child deserves not just a place in our education system but the opportunity to fully participate and to reach his or her full potential.

I agree with Deputy O'Rourke. He said that every week his office is contacted by parents who simply cannot secure appropriate special education places for their children. It is the same in my office. I had such a contact just an hour and a half ago. When parents cannot access local provision within Dublin Fingal West, they are told to go into Dublin or to the adjacent counties of Meath and Louth. I would love to see the emails the Ministers receive. I am sure that people around the country are in similar situations to those I hear about in Dublin Fingal West. It is simply not acceptable that parents are asked to put children with special needs on a bus for 90 minutes in the morning and in the afternoon just to access education. Every child should have the right to attend school in their local area with their siblings and friends and in their own community. In my own constituency of Dublin Fingal West, parents come to me who are desperately trying to secure appropriate places for children with Down's syndrome. Parents were recently told there were three places available in one school but there were 57 applications. That is the stark reality that families are facing. I thank Ruth and Fidelma from Down Syndrome Ireland, who met with me on this issue last month. I will try to put forward a solution. I raised this last year with the Tánaiste. Children in early education are in ASD pre-school settings where the access and inclusion model, AIM, is in use. Those figures can be used to plan ahead and ensure that supports are in place for primary schools. There is a clear two-year window there before the transition and it should be used.

I will speak about the impact of the Ministers' proposals on moderate general learning disability schools. The future of children relies on schools like Our Lady of Fatima School in Wexford town. The Government's proposal to remove its MGLD designation threatens to dismantle the very support system that these children depend on. I am delighted to see Darryl, chair of the parents association, and his daughter, Grace, a student at Our Lady of Fatima School, in the Gallery this evening. People across County Wexford have said plainly that this proposal is misguided and will be harmful. It disregards the lived reality of families, the expertise of teachers and the needs of children, who deserve the specialised, consistent and compassionate education provided by Our Lady of Fatima and schools like it right across the country. We must be absolutely clear about what this designation means. MGLD status is not just a label; it is a lifeline. It ensures that children with mild general learning disabilities receive tailored teaching, smaller classes, specialised resources and an environment built around their strengths and challenges. Removing this designation does not modernise education or streamline services. Instead, it strips away protections that were put in place because the children in these schools needed them. Parents have said repeatedly that this school is not just a building but a community that understands their children in a way that mainstream settings simply cannot. Teachers have warned that removing the designation will scatter vulnerable students to environments that are not prepared, resourced or trained to meet their needs. On behalf of the children in Wexford and across the country who will be affected by the removal of these designations, I urge the Ministers to review and reverse this decision because it will have such a great impact on the affected children.

I believed the Ministers when they told me several times in this Chamber that they would work with me. I believed them when they said several times that they had the solutions. I believed the NCSE. I believed lots of people but that might be my political naivety. I am really disappointed. I have come to the Ministers several times both here and outside the Chamber, the committee has been on to them and I have submitted umpteen parliamentary questions. I have written letters pleading with them to do something on behalf of my constituents and people around this country, their children and the schools they work in. These people are coming to me because I am our education spokesperson. I have had the quickest grinds ever on the subject of how inclusive education works in this country. It is an omnishambles beyond belief. I do not normally get cross. I try to be very constructive. However, I really am pushed to the limits of my patience now. Those on the Government side constantly say that the Opposition does not put forward solutions. This is a solution. We have put forward several. I literally cannot ask the Ministers any more times for the things that need to happen. In September, we had an issue with appropriate school places. We did not have enough of them. In November, the portal was closed and no one figured out what to do for those parents who were promised they were going to be able to notify the parental portal afterwards. The portal was shut and they were not able to make that notification. We had to contact the Minister individually. That is not an appropriate use of her time. This system should work properly. In January, another Department announced that there would not be assessments of need in schools. I do not know how schools are going to figure out what support services they need. That was done without any consultation with any education providers whatsoever. That is also an affront to the Ministers' Department. Two things happened in April. Inclusive special education classes were announced. It is beyond me why those words were used. I do not know why someone would come up with that phrase. Does that mean that the rest of the classes are not inclusive? We then had the Relate document. It is an absolutely excellent document. It is not all bad news. I will give praise where it is due. The Relate document is excellent and that framework should be rolled out. It is now going to be rolled out to training for SNAs and teachers but through a "train the trainer" model. That was not decided in consultation with teacher unions or any other unions and it is also not acceptable. I welcome my lovely colleagues from Scoil Eoin in my own constituency. It is a mild general learning disability school. I believe the Minister has visited. It is an absolutely wonderful school. The fact that its designation is facing death by a million cuts and what will happen to those children is actually frightening. I listened to the Minister's speech in full. I was upstairs in my office. It was full of numbers, which is great. I like hearing numbers. However, I also think those numbers do not actually relate to the children behind them and where they are. I will ask one question. The portal was supposed to give the Minister a great deal of information. Did it actually tell her the needs those children had? If it did, has she addressed all of those needs? I hope she will tell me that it has. There is no point in collecting data and then leaving it on a shelf. With regard to those five inclusive special classes, is that specifically what those parents said they needed for their children through that portal? Therapists are going to come into schools in May, one month before the end of yet another academic year. They should never have been cut in the first place. I do not know whose hare-brained idea that was. The idea that children with disabilities would not have therapists is just beyond me. Today, the Taoiseach stood in his place and said the Save our SNAs campaign was a flawed campaign. What was flawed was the Government's approach to SNAs. The campaign has been fighting for years because SNAs were not respected. They have again not been respected. The Taoiseach has completely insulted a pile of people in this country. It is unfathomable. The reason they are so frustrated and that there is a difficulty with SNAs is that it has taken years for the Ministers' Department to get redeployment going, to undertake workforce planning and to get any idea of what the circular would be able to do. I asked the Minister if she would meet the group. She said "Yes" and that we could negotiate. I offered the NCSE. Deputy O'Rourke and I were part of that committee, and we asked if we could do it. We are handing the Minister stuff on a silver platter to make her life easier, so that intern can make the lives of those children easier. The EPSEN Act, which the Department reviewed last year, was written in 2004 and sat on a shelf for years. I want to mention two things that I thought were really heartbreaking over the last while. Visually impaired and blind students came into the committee last week. One young person told us that he had applied for his Braille books when he was in transition year, and he got them a week before his leaving certificate. They were his senior cycle books. That is how we are treating a child who needs to have Braille books. I am speechless. We are spending gazillions of euro. I do not even know the number. The Minister knows the number and she still has to go to borrow more money for the future next year due to the overspend the Department has. I know she is trying to do her best, but the reality is that it is not what is in the wallet but how it is spent. It is clearly not being spent properly if we cannot even get a child books in Braille for the leaving certificate. What is that saying to him as an individual? Is it saying we do not value him because we did not bother getting him his Braille books? It would not happen in another country. I recently met with parents of children with intellectual disabilities who are becoming adults and are going to leave education and go somewhere else. What I heard was that there is no vision whatsoever for those young people. I know they are going to be adults, but there is no vision for what they will do with their lives in the future. I met somebody from the Before We Die campaign this morning. I hope that campaign contacts every TD in this room and those who are not present also, and that we listen to them because waiting until someone dies and then figuring out what is going to happen to their adult child is just disgraceful. I am sure that the Minister and the Minister of State have not heard me this annoyed before because I tend to come into this House quite balanced, but today I am afraid I am not. I am not able to listen to the constant complaints from people because the system does not work. I thought the Minister would believe me, and I know that is what parents in this country thought. They thought they could believe the Government before the last general election or local election - any election - that it would get this right, but it has not, and it is now going to have another talking shop that asks people this, that and the other. The information and answers are there. The Government does not have to make everything up. It works in other countries, so copy and paste from where it works well. The education committee also went to Finland. We looked at what that would be like. There are so many solutions but, again, if we are not able to get it right for any child in this country, this is what the difficulty is. The Government has let people down. It has let people in this House down, it has let people outside this House down, and if there were another motion of no confidence, it would be about this issue, in my opinion.

I thank Sinn Féin for bringing this motion to the House this evening. Early intervention classes are a pivotal part of the continuum of support for children with additional needs and autistic children who are not yet ready to transition to a special class or into school more generally, yet an insidious pattern is emerging in the treatment of early intervention classes. They are being slowly but surely phased out under the guise of inclusivity. A reply the Department recently gave to a parliamentary question of mine on this issue clearly shows what is happening. It stated that the Department of education and the National Council for Special Education are pushing for early intervention classes to be repurposed to meet wider special class demand. Incredibly, we are told that this is about inclusion and about meeting need. In reality, it means that one essential form of educational provision is being scaled back to meet need elsewhere - a classic case of robbing Peter to pay Paul. The Government is getting away with this because it is happening gradually, under the radar, and because the group of children affected at any given time is relatively small. Presenting this as inclusivity is not just misleading; it is deeply cynical. A class that should be there for a new cohort of young children is instead being absorbed into the primary school system to patch over shortages there. Early intervention classes serve a distinct purpose. They can be the bridge into education for children who need intensive support at the earliest stage. These classes can help children develop communication, regulation, routine and many of the core skills needed to engage with school life. Investment at that stage can yield enormous benefits later in a child’s education and development, and I have heard that directly from primary school teachers and principals, who are deeply concerned by this quiet phasing-out of early intervention classes. Crucially, they are often essential for children who are not yet ready to transition into a special class. If we hollow out that provision, we will leave some of our most vulnerable young children without the support they need at the very point when early intervention matters most. The national figures point in the wrong direction. After previous growth, the total number of early intervention classes fell from 157 in 2024-25 to 149 in 2025-26 and Cork shows that pattern very clearly. Instead of strengthening early intervention provision, there is a clear reduction over time, with six fewer early intervention classes now in Cork than existed in 2020. That trend needs to be reversed. The Government should not preach about inclusive education while quietly reducing access to the early intervention provision that many children depend on in order to get into education in the first place. It is crucial that the Government acknowledges the distinct and irreplaceable value of these classes and commits to protecting them from routine redesignation.

There is a huge concern among parents of children with additional needs, autism and disabilities that what is happening now is an undermining of the minimal resourcing that is there already. The truth is we have created an education system that is more exclusionary than it is inclusionary, and we need to create an inclusive education system. In my constituency, Finglas Parochial National School was promised autism classes that were to be delivered by September. It is now not clear if that will happen, although I know the Minister has been out to visit. Similarly, I have been working with a parent for over a year whose child only goes to school for one and a half hours a day. A six-year-old child goes in for one and a half hours a day because the school cannot handle it as it does not have the resources, and the parents are taking the child home. This is a child with autism. We are failing too many children, too many families, too many parents and I am very surprised at the Taoiseach's response to the SNA campaign. What is the Minister's response to the proposed circular from the SNA campaign? I have read it. I do not see what is wrong with it. It is actually excellent if you read through it. It states that the purpose of the SNA role is to enable access to the curriculum for the students, support participation, promote independence, support emotional regulation and facilitate communication and social inclusion. To me, this new circular proposed by the SNA campaign is at the heart of creating an inclusive education, and I ask the Minister to seriously engage with them and to make the changes needed to create a genuinely inclusive education system for all our children.

Every Member of this House knows that families are at breaking point, struggling to access supports for children with additional needs. Behind every policy discussion are parents trying to hold things together in a system that is not holding them. This motion is right: the State is failing children with additional educational needs and their families. An upsetting example is how families are treated when they apply for the domiciliary care allowance. Picture a mother at the kitchen table late at night filling in the application. She describes her real life: constant supervision, safety concerns, emotional regulation and the exhaustion of caring every hour day in, day out. She sets this out hoping it will be recognised. Instead, a decision is made at a desk, and the conclusion is reached that the child does not have the needs substantial and in excess of what is expected. In that moment, families are left with their reality and their reality is denied. Families are experiencing the lack of need and a system that does not translate into what they need - recognition. They feel rejection. They feel abandonment. In Donegal and across the north west, families are carrying even more due to the CDNT network's delayed services, yet this is not reflected in the decisions. Families are carrying everything, and they are being told it is not enough. This is injustice. We need to reform the domiciliary care allowance so the lived experience is properly weighed, decisions reflect the real care burden and families are not forced into costly legal battles they cannot afford.

I want to start with the Dublin 15 special education task force that was clearly set up to box the issue off the agenda during the general election. The report has not been released. It is becoming like the third secret of Fatima. Will the Government release it? Many parents had to take to the streets and we want to see the recommendations and what the Minister will do about them. Who dreamed up the inclusive special schools the Minister announced? Why would the Minister announce a new model of special classes without talking to Inclusion Ireland, AsIAm, special education teachers, unions, SNAs or parents, that is, the people actually affected by this? The Minister only spoke to the managerial bodies of schools. Is this model more inclusive because there will be more students in the classroom? The numbers will increase from six to 12. The Minister can clarify this point, but it appears that instead of an autism-specific or dedicated additional needs class, part of the day will be spent in mainstream classrooms of 30 where students will struggle and part of the day in a new special model the Minister has created. That will be considered to be the creation of a special class. It is a stroke to sort out the problem of waiting lists for special classes. I have been told of 19 students in Dublin 15 who do not have secondary school places. What the Minister has proposed seems to be the solution to this, but children are entitled to what is best practice. They should not be pushed into a reduced form of education. I want to lend my support to the Save our SNAs campaign. I will raise the idea of an alternative circular at the education committee. I fully support the women fighting for this.

I am glad the Minister and Minister of State are here. The latest figures in County Laois for the number of children with special needs and disabilities under the age of 14 is 2,302. All of us have a responsibility to ensure they get the best possible education. New classes have been announced for Laois, which is well and good and I welcome that. However, we also need physical space in schools. In St. Francis School in Portlaoise, demand continues to far outstrip the availability of classrooms. The Department has washed its hands of Saplings, as has the Department of justice. It is regarded as a private matter even though it is a public school. It has a roll number and teachers paid for by the Minister's Department, but apparently the Department has no role in the school. I will come back to that on another day. Our Lady's Meadow in Durrow is getting two new ASD units, which is excellent, but it needs three. I urge that one of the prefabs that are in a good condition is left in place. I have raised with the Minister and departmental officials the issue of Mountrath boys' national school, which is badly in need of an extension to incorporate ASD classrooms, sensory rooms, etc. The numbers waiting at primary and second level in all counties are not published every year so that we can see them, and I cannot for the life of me figure out why. This information could be used to ascertain the level of need and the classroom space available, but this never happens. Why not? On SNAs, the Government's definition was too narrow, which it has accepted. That is good. It is okay to accept that. The Government must now work with SNAs to ensure that the policy encompasses the full range of duties and responsibilities SNAs take on. It is important that the role of the SNA is properly fulfilled. I urge the Minister to ensure this consultation is done properly and to give SNAs their proper place in our schools.

The Government must stop failing children with additional needs. At the end of 2025, 20,209 children were on the waiting list for assessments of need. The majority have been waiting over two years and almost 95% have been waiting longer than the legal six-month limit under the Disability Act 2005. The Government is breaking the law every hour of every day. The Government threatened the Army on peaceful protesters, but it breaks the law willy-nilly. The waiting lists for therapy are also horrendous. Well over 40,000 children are on various waiting lists for CDNTs, speech and language therapy, occupational therapy and psychology. There is a chronic shortage of appropriate school places, some 170 classes short, representing hundreds of children. Many children are forced to accept school places outside of their communities. In my experience, children are travelling up to 25 miles to school. A special school in my constituency had 38 applications for eight places, meaning 30 disappointed children and 30 very frustrated and distressed parents. We must do better. The recent announcement of inclusive special classes is not the answer and is another display of arrogance by the Government. There was no consultation with parents, children, disability organisations, teachers or unions. Inclusive Ireland and AsIAm have very serious misgivings about the proposal. It increases class sizes for children with additional needs without adequate or, indeed, any provision for additional special education teachers, SNAs or support and should be stopped. It must be subject to full consultation, consideration and evaluation by and with all stakeholders.

I thank colleagues in Sinn Féin for bringing forward the motion. In my constituency, Dublin West, we have seen sustained challenges over many years in respect of parents being able to secure appropriate places for their children in local schools. I know the Minister and Minister of State are aware of that. Right now, there remain children who I know do not have an appropriate place assigned to them for September at primary and secondary level. The Minister said on the radio last week that no child would be left without a place this September, but that deadline is getting closer and closer. The opportunity for these children to acclimatise to their new school setting is a transition that is often significantly more challenging for a child with autism. That opportunity has been lost. I appeal to the Minister and Minister of State to engage with the NCSE and make sure that necessary school places are delivered in Dublin West. Where schools are being asked to open new autism classes at short notice, they should be fully supported in doing so. I want to raise the case of Hansfield Educate Together National School. An ANA review sought by the school resulted in no additional staffing being provided. The school has seen a significant increase in the number of students with the highest care support needs joining in September of this year, yet it has not received an equivalent increase in ANAs. The school management is desperately concerned about the ability of the school to meet the needs of existing students and the new students who will be joining the school in September. When will the Minister and Minister of State publish the report of the Dublin 15 schools task force? It was handed over to their predecessors in July last year. We have now been waiting over eight months for the report to be published and for officials to deal with it. A huge amount of work went into it and more and more it appears to be the case that there is an effort to ignore or sideline the report's important recommendations. The Minister and Minister of State urgently need to publish the report.

At a meeting of the budget scrutiny committee today, we were informed by the Department of public expenditure that there will be an extra €640 million for the education sector. Officials explained that was largely to do with special needs. To me, what that says is that were it not for the protests of school communities, including parents, teachers, principals and SNAs, the Government would, at a minimum, have given €640 million too little to special needs. It would have short-changed children in terms of their right to an education and the educational supports they need. Of course, that is on top of the failure of the Government to deliver on assessments needed by children who are left on waiting lists. When they get assessments, they never ever get the services they need. The legal and moral rights of our children are not being honoured. Only because of a crisis and the protests of school communities has the Government been forced to find some additional money. It will almost certainly not be enough to address the issue. Extra money has been allocated because school communities revolted against the intent of the Government to implement swingeing SNA cuts in many schools. We are not getting clear guarantees that everybody will get the special class places they should have in September. We are not getting a clear commitment that the alternative circular has been put together. It appears the circular that led to the crisis will be adopted by the Government. There will be serious engagement with the SNA campaign. Parents, who are stressed and have to deal with all these hardships, had to go to all the effort of putting together an alternative circular on special needs because the Government had failed so catastrophically. Give the parents and children the commitments they need that they will have their places and resources and that the Government will engage with the circular and vindicate the rights of children to education.

I thank Sinn Féin for bringing this motion forward. As I do not have much time, I will just touch on some of the requirements in this motion. It looks to me as if people with additional needs are always the people who are suffering in this country and fighting to get basic rights. Special needs assistants are being treated unfairly and families are paying the price. The current system is rigid, cold and completely out of touch with what is happening on the ground. In schools, children who need support are left waiting and SNAs are being pushed to the brink. That cannot continue. The Minister must engage properly with the Save our SNAs campaign and implement a fair and improved circular that works for children, parents and schools. SNAs are doing far more than they were ever originally employed to do. It is long past time their role was recognised through a proper redeployment scheme and a workforce plan designed with SNAs themselves. At the same time, the Government is bringing back exam fees and hiking school transport charges. It is the wrong decision at the wrong time. Bus fees for secondary students are being doubled and they are being hiked by a third for primary students, pushing ordinary families, who are already stretched, to breaking point. Education should not come with barriers like this. It should be fair, accessible and based on basic decency. I wish to raise the pressures facing CoAction in west Cork and other communities and the families who rely on its services. CoAction supports hundreds of adults and children across west Cork, providing residential care, supported living, respite and vital disability services. Demand for these services is growing year on year, yet the organisation is being held back by chronic under-funding and uncertainty. There is a vacant residential bedroom that cannot be used because of a lack of funding to staff it. New residential respite developments are planned in places like Skibbereen, Bantry and Clonakilty but without guaranteed revenue funding, these projects cannot open, even when the buildings are there. Families are crying out for respite. Centres have capacity to do more but staffing, short-term funding and recruitment challenges are limiting what can be delivered. The lack of a multi-annual funding model is creating constant uncertainty for service users, their families and front-line staff. The Government must give providers like CoAction proper, secure funding so existing services can run at full capacity and planned services can open. People with disabilities and their families deserve certainty, not promises that depend on next year’s budget. There is one vital disability service project that deserves urgent Government backing. CoAction west Cork, working in partnership with the Kilbritten Tractor Run and the local community, has put forward a strong, well-planned proposal for a new respite and day service facility in Dunmanway. This project responds to a clear and growing need for autism-focused and intellectual disability services across west Cork. The proposal includes a purpose-built community hub, adult day services, respite centre and supported living apartments, all located within walking distance of Dunmanway town. This is about keeping people in their own communities, supporting independence and ensuring continuity of care as young people transition into adulthood. What makes this project stand out is that the land has been generously donated by local people, John and Mary McCarthy. Funding has already been raised by the community and the service model aligns fully with the national disability policy and the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, UNCRPD. What is needed now is certainty from the State. Capital and guaranteed revenue funding must be provided so this project can move from paper to reality. Families have waited long enough. This is the right project in the right place at the right time. It needs to be urgently brought ahead. Deputy Jen Cummins mentioned the Before We Die campaign. I certainly do not need to be educated on it because I know all about it. I spent a number of years on the board of CoAction and I see the need for people to live independently. Parents are now getting to an extremely worrying time in their lives where they are growing elderly and are concerned about where their children will end up. There are no services available, nor is there a solution. People are being told that the disabled person said they are okay, but that is not a decision they can make. We need to be looking at that. I was involved in a community project in Skull where we built 12 houses recently. Two people in CoAction were able to move into these houses, but I had some fight to get them in there. No one understands the situation. This can be a solution in many towns and villages. It needs to be worked on. I would appreciate if the Minister and Minister of State could help us along that line.

First, I support the motion brought before us today by Sinn Féin. Every year there is a scramble for families of children with disabilities to access special educational places, which is their constitutional right. In Mayo, it is no different. Many families are panicking, chasing SENOs and ringing school principals and the NCSE. That is what it is happening. The level of anxiety is frightening. Such families attend my clinics, but what should I say to them? It is devastating. These are our most vulnerable children who are being forgotten about. It is so upsetting. The problem is not an information problem; the Minister and the Department have the data and statistics. The gaps are visible, yet every year there is a scramble. The most recent reports outline that up to 1,200 children could be without a place. I urge the Minister to ensure that she has a workplace plan in place because, clearly, there has not been one in the Department. That is fundamental. The Department needs to get a grip of the data. It needs to ensure that it knows what is coming down the track for next year and the year after and plans and prepares accordingly. For the children entering school this September, it is quite clear that the Government up to now has no provision or plan in place. I urge the Minister to ensure that she gets a handle of the situation and the data. She must ensure there is a plan, rather than a scramble, in place for children this September, as well as those children starting in September 12 and 24 months from now. The Minister must be able to say to families that there is a place for them and that the Government will look after them. These are our most vulnerable children and if we cannot do that in this day and age, we should hang our heads in shame. I will speak about the SNA situation. The current circular is completely outdated, restrictive and cruel. It is incredible that it took people - SNAs and families with disabilities - protesting outside Leinster House to make this Government realise what was happening. A review was being undertaken which would have seen on-the-ground cuts, essentially, and it took families standing on Kildare Street and raising their voices for this Government to realise what was happening. The same happened with the protests last week. I urge the Government to listen to the people. The people of this country should not have to blockade infrastructure or spend hours outside Leinster House to get this Government to wake up and listen. I am asking the Minister to ensure that the circular is updated, that the invaluable contribution SNAs make is recognised and that there is a move away from this restrictive model dictated in the 2014 circular. I also ask the Minister to advance the SNA redeployment scheme. It is fundamentally important. It happens in a range of other professional sectors and for professionals across the country. It should also happen for SNA cohorts as well. SNAs are looking for increased continuing professional development, CPD. They want training as their role is expanding massively. They want to professionalise. They want job security and clear contracts. It is important the Minister ensures that happens. Finally, I will raise the important issue of assistive technology for children with special educational needs. I ask for the attention of the Minister in this regard. The family and school of a young child who is in primary school have applied for assistive technology. His occupational therapist and language therapist have outlined that he needs it. The report clearly states that this is essential for this child to access the curriculum. It does not state that this is helpful. It does not state that this is preferable; it states that this is essential. However, the application was rejected and refused by the Department. The refusal ultimately cites two things: first, insufficient evidence of a specific language disorder, despite the fact that the child has such immense difficulties; and, second, it appears that it is necessary for a child to have an IQ above 90. Here is the catch. The speech and language disorder is one route to access this under the 2013 curricular, but to be assessed for a speech and language disorder a child must have an IQ of above 90. This child's IQ is in the region of the fifties. He is not going to meet that threshold but two therapists have said that it is essential for the child. Down Syndrome Ireland has confirmed to me that is not an outlier or unique case. I have submitted parliamentary questions to the Minister. She has stated that a review is under way. This is a review for a basic grant that is essential for a child to access the curriculum. What is going on? When will the review happen? When will this child be able to access assistive technology that he so desperately needs?

It is something that I have raised with the Minister. Roisin and Peggy from Down Syndrome Galway had a fantastic meeting with the Minister. I wish to reiterate the issue that exists in that circular regarding the special speech and language disorder classes and having accessibility for everyone to them. I will use my two minutes - not that the Minister is not aware - as a reminder of how important the role of education, and particularly the role that special education, plays. I know the work the Minister and the Minister of State put in and how hard they are working to see every child in this country have an opportunity. We had the Department of Education and Youth before the Public Accounts Committee last week. We were asking the officials about why almost an extra €500 million would be spent trying to ensure that we meet the need that exists. I encourage the Department to spend as much money as possible in this domain. As a country, we are not going to regret spending this money. This is something for our children and future. It is something that I will fully support so long as I am a Deputy. There are three key priorities and focuses going forward for special education. The first is a guarantee of a school place for every child in the right school place and right setting that is fitting for the child. The second is a fast track for special classes. I compliment the Ministers. There are over 400 special classes set to open this year across the country. That is welcome. As the Ministers, all Deputies and I know, we need more. The third is to speed up the rate of which assessments take place so that supports can be unlocked and identified for those who need them. If we have not identified the need and not identified what is needed for people there, how can we ensure that they get the support they need?

I support the motion, particularly its call to establish a time-bound school building task force with a mandate to ensure priority delivery of special schools, and indeed, special classes. As a former school principal and teacher with a masters degree in inclusive and special education, I fully recognise, and I have seen first hand, the invaluable and indispensable role that SNAs play in our schools throughout this State, particularly in preparing children in enabling them to access mainstream education, supporting them to thrive alongside their peers and dealing with their care needs and well-being. It is absolutely invaluable. Our SNAs are vital in our mainstream primary schools. They deserve to be respected and recognised for the great work they do. I acknowledge that Ireland has built one of the most dedicated SNA schemes in the European Union. We are supporting over 23,000 SNAs in the current school year. However, the fact remains that demand continues to outpace supply. The rising diagnosis of autism, ADHD and complex needs have placed unprecedented pressure on the system. We also see that in the massive numbers struggling to access the children's disability network teams. I see that first hand in my constituency of Offaly. It has been a problem for years. It is unfair that parents have to fight all the time and battle for vital access to basic services. The recent NCSE allocation review, although paused, and the additional €19 million in funding, exposed the limitations of an outdated care needs criteria. Schools and families across Offaly and beyond experienced real anxiety at that time.

I thank Sinn Féin for bringing forward the motion. It is the biggest wonder of the world when a baby is born to a loving couple. They look forward to raising the baby, bringing them up and giving that child the very best. Equally, it is devastating when they discover that something is the matter and that the child needs an assessment or whatever, and they have to wait so long. That is very hurtful for them because they have to fight for everything. They have to fight for primary school education and special needs teachers. When they move on to post-primary school, they have to do it again. Surely, the powers that be and the education system should recognise at that stage that they need SNAs and more of the same in secondary school. Another problem arises that the Department says it has X number of SNAs places and that the country is covered. In many cases, they are not there. Long distances between schools and families create a huge problem for people. Many children with complex needs are still without SNAs and necessary school places. Parents all over the country are worn out from fighting for a school place for their children. They should not have to fight for the one basic right of education. It was very hurtful when the Department tried to take four SNA teachers out of Fossa National School in County Kerry. I am glad that the Department saw the light because these people are doing tremendous work. They should be allowed to continue. Some Department official went into that school, sat aside in another room and drew up the idea of taking away four SNAs. That is wrong. They did not see what was going on in the school.

Aontaím le go leor rudaí agus Teachtaí a labhair sa Teach seo inniu. Is gá go dtabharfaidh muid, mar Rialtas, an deis do gach uile páiste sa tír seo. Every single child deserves the chance to thrive. I welcome and thank the Minister for visiting schools across Dublin Bay North, including St. Michael's House Special National School, Baldoyle. St. Michael's House Special School Foxfield in Raheny would also love the Minister to visit. They are brilliant and hard-working staff. The Minister also visited Stapolin Education Together National School, which has run a very successful online campaign. Speaking to the principal of that school, they are being told that they cannot get a sanctioned modular building for a special education classroom. The NCSE is telling them that the Department is telling the council that it cannot sanction the classrooms. There are clearly communication issues. I ask for that to be looked into because the school needs it. It has the staff and it is willing to open it. Regarding SNAs across the country, I thank the hard-working men and women for everything that they do. I refer to the save our SNAs campaign. I welcome that there has been some engagement, especially with the Taoiseach confirming to me today in the Chamber that he will have no problem meeting with the campaign group. The alternative circular that they have developed is very good. It takes in all of the roles that SNAs perform in a real scenario. I thank the Minister for visiting those schools and for the hard work she has done. I acknowledge that more than 430 special classes have been opened across the country.

The Deputy must conclude.

She knows there is a lot more to do. I will continue to work with her as she does so.

At its core, education is about providing opportunity and allowing every child to reach their full potential. This is no different for children with special educational needs. Across my constituency in Dublin Bay North there is significant demand for additional special classes in schools. One school in particular, Stapolin Educate Together in Baldoyle, has been working tirelessly to secure approval for an additional special class. I urge the Minister to impress upon the NCSE the very real demand that exists and to recognise the willingness of Stapolin Educate Together to deliver this class. Since being elected to this House, I have had the privilege of visiting schools and meeting with teachers and principals in the constituency. Just yesterday I visited another school. Time and again, I hear the very same story of children with special educational needs being placed in mainstream classrooms that are simply not suited to their needs. The level of stress and anxiety this puts on families is unimaginable. These children need to be in an appropriate classroom with wraparound supports so that they can thrive. I acknowledge the Minister's huge commitment to special education. Last year she visited a number of schools in our community and she heard at first hand the issues from principals, teachers and students alike. We are seeing progress, with more special classes and special schools being established. We need more special classes and more special schools and we need them urgently. The progress that we are seeing is welcome but it must continue and it must match the urgency on the ground.

The highest priority within the programme for Government is the whole area of special education, and the work that has been done to date by special needs assistants, special education teachers, the whole school community and indeed the parents and guardians supporting children throughout. It is fair to say that listening did need to improve and that is happening. It is of the utmost priority to find a way for SNA alternative circular to be integrated into the NCSE review of the role of the special needs assistant. The sanctioning today of additional budget for additional special education classes is most welcome as well. I wish to highlight the work of the Joint Committee on Disability Matters. It is a number of weeks since we signed off on the report on inclusive education, which has been passed to the Departments of education and health and the Department of Children, Disability and Equality. Within that, there are 33 very strong recommendations that encompass most of what has been discussed this evening. Pivotal to that is co-creation and the co-ordinated long-term needs-based planning for children with additional needs as well as the establishment of the unit for future planning and multi-annual funding. Some tangible examples can be implemented perhaps with a more prudent use of funding, even for school meals and mindfulness, sensory and nurture rooms within schools. That could even be done in collaboration with the HSE through the use of alternative respite funding for integrative therapies. These are things that some CHOs already do around the country, particularly in the Limerick area and in CDNTs 5 and 7. Where it is known that children are on waiting lists for assessment, they could be allowed to access such facilities. I did it as a councillor with the municipal district allocation, and provided small amounts of funding for equine therapy and art therapy.

I thank the Deputy.

It can be done in the short term.

I thank the Deputies for the opportunity to speak in the debate. I thank everybody who has contributed so sincerely and genuinely this evening. They can rest assured that both the Minister, Deputy Naughton, and I will take due recognition of each and every one of the points that has been made. The old Irish saying that it takes a village to raise a child is never truer than when a child has special needs. It takes an extraordinary school community to ensure that a child can flourish. I want to use this opportunity to put on the record of the House my deep appreciation for every school principal, teacher, SNA, bus escort, bus driver, secretary, caretaker, and other school staff members around the country who support children with additional needs and ensure they can flourish. I meet every week with parents, schools, patrons, advocacy groups and other education stakeholders to discuss special education, both what is working and where there is room for improvement. Members mentioned that pinch points often arise at the transition points from early years to primary school, from primary to post-primary, and from post-primary on to life after school. This is something that comes to the fore when it comes to the provision of special education placements, whether in a special class or in special schools. It is important to remember that the majority of children and young people with special educational needs are supported to access mainstream classes with their peers. Where children have more complex needs a special class can be provided and for children with the most complex needs a special school place can be provided. At the start of this school year, through the accelerated provision of new special class and special school places over recent years, we had 31,000 specialist places. For each of the past five years, we have provided approximately 400 new special classes with six places in each and 300 special school places. For the coming year, based on the additional funding approved by the Cabinet this morning, we will go well beyond that in terms of provision for the next school year. It has been noted in the House tonight that more than 330 special classes have been approved this year, with more to follow in the coming weeks. As Minister of State with responsibility for special education and inclusion, I continue to meet officials of the National Council for Special Education, along with senior officials in the Department of education on a weekly basis to track the progress being made in providing new specialist places. This work is ongoing. As always, the NCSE continues to monitor and review the level of need and how many children and young people are being offered places. There are many moving parts to all of this as our school admissions process happens at a local level. I pay tribute to the members of the council and the officials from the Department who work with me each Wednesday morning to make sure that we monitor the situation. The motion refers to a wide range of issues. I want to touch on some of them now and the work that is being progressed. I have a deep appreciation for every single SNA who works in our school communities. When I meet them on school visits, I always say that we have built special education on their backs. I know full well the importance of the SNA to families and in particular to children to ensure they have access to education that allows them to flourish. In September 2026, we will have the largest number of SNAs, at almost 25,000, ever available in schools. Funding for approximately 500 additional SNAs is being provided. As previously agreed by the Government, all schools reviewed by the NCSE and allocated additional SNA resources will receive them. No SNA reduction will come into effect in the 2026-27 school year. The SNA redeployment scheme, the SNA workforce development plan and changes to a 2014 circular outlining the role of an SNA will be advanced before any further decisions are taken. As the Minister said, we did a full day of consultation on those key pieces - the SNA redeployment scheme, the SNA workforce development plan and the changes to the circular. Many Members offered opinions on them. We have been very clear in that regard. Ongoing work is at an advanced stage. We fully understand that has to be done as a priority. The priority remains to ensure that the child-centred approach to the provision of special education is retained and enhanced in these policy developments. These policies will ensure special education into the future. In relation to the development of a circular on the role of the SNA, my Department has concluded a comprehensive review of the role of the SNA as part of ongoing work on the SNA workforce development plan. This work was supported by working groups comprising a wide range of stakeholders, which have met a number of times over the past year or so, providing input from their perspectives. The Department has also conducted significant focus group research, as well as a national survey of SNAs to ensure everybody in our school communities was given the opportunity to provide input. The result is a draft circular that provides a detailed description of the range of duties and responsibilities of the evolving SNA role and that is a product of meaningful collaboration with all those in school communities. Fórsa, the recognised trade union representative body of the SNAs, and the Department will continue to work and engage on this. I am very pleased that, over the past 12 months, the Government took a decision to put the education therapy service back into our schools. This was committed to at election time. A huge amount of work has been done over the past year. I truly believe this will be a game-changer for children and young people with additional needs and also their schools and families. This will supplement existing children's health and disability services. The initial focus is on educational therapists and speech and language therapists. In time, other disciplines, such as physiotherapy, will be included. The first tranche, 45 special schools, has been announced and it is intended to roll out the remainder of the special schools over the 2026–27 school year. The NCSE recently completed a recruitment campaign for senior and staff-grade occupational speech and language therapists for the initial counties. Panels have been created for the first recruitment campaign and posts are currently being offered, with an expectation that the therapists will be in situ in May 2026. This education therapy service will provide a multi-tiered model of support for children, parents and school communities. The service will focus on education-relevant goals, supporting children to fully participate in their school environments and maximise positive outcomes. During the debate, legal cases were mentioned. The Department's aim is to ensure no child will ever need to take a case against the State. Where it happens, the Department continues to work with parents to ensure solutions are found as quickly as possible and cases are settled before they go to court. It is important to continue to do that. Over recent months, particularly since Christmas, we have worked nearly every Monday night. The Minister and I have worked collaboratively across government to ensure the best possible outcomes for children in September 2026. Owing to the portal deadline of 1 October, we have better sight of the number of children. Additional classes were announced months earlier than last year and work is continuing with the NCSE. The Department is continuing daily to ensure more classes will be sanctioned over the next while. Inclusive special classes were mentioned, including the five announced last week. We are not cutting back on staff. We are supporting them and the ratio is exactly the same. It is a matter of encouragement and ensuring that, as far as is possible, inclusion is at the very heart of special education provision. Many school communities, particularly at post-primary level, are doing an excellent job, as was evident in a number of places we visited. They are all saying that if they had the resources in terms of teachers or SNAs, they would be able to do more. Those resources have been put in place. We have to ensure we are embracing all models of education to have better outcomes for children. It will save us in the long run. The investment in special education that the Minister and I are presiding over and have fought for over recent months will make a real difference to children, families and society in the long run.

One of the main issues raised in my constituency office is the lack of appropriate school places for children with additional needs. Every year, it seems to be getting worse, with more parents upset and worried about their children's future. Recently we had the announcement of the new inclusive special classes, which appears to be a plan to increase class sizes without a similar increase in staff, funding and support. I find that very worrying. I want to raise with the Minister the case of Strapolin Educate Together National School in my constituency. This school has been a leader in inclusive education. It has the space to accommodate additional autism classes on campus but it needs modular classrooms to do this. The community is left with a bizarre situation: the NCSE has agreed there is demand for two additional classes, but when the latest list of additional special classes was released by the Department last week, they were not included. The school authorities say one of the reasons it has been told the modular units will not be sanctioned is that the school building is too new. Seriously, how can the age of a building have anything to do with the level of demand in our area? I urge the Minister and Minister of State to examine this case, in particular. On the overall motion, let us be clear: we need to see this problem solved. Children need to be put first because this is an issue on which we cannot wait any longer. We need to see the additional funding and resources for September. In the long term, we need a comprehensive plan that will deal with staffing, SNA supports, class sizes and funding.

I am aware that the Taoiseach said this morning a memo is going to Cabinet that will call for additional supports for special education. When will we see the details of this proposal? Many schools in my area are waiting for special education supports. Gaelscoil na Camóige, as I have mentioned a few times, has been operating out of prefabs for over 30 years. Currently, the building of the new school alongside the new school for Gaelscoil Chluain Dolcáin is progressing; however, the schools were notified that the ASD classes will not now be built. The ASD expansion was agreed and given the go-ahead in 2024. It is simply common sense for it to go ahead. As we speak, Lucan Community College is holding a meeting. I cannot attend because I am here advocating on its behalf. One of its asks is that the agreed and much-needed special needs unit be provided. This would allow the school to open four special classes and it could be delivered on time if there were political will. St. Kevin's Community College is earmarked to become a 1,000-pupil school but it is not being supported with the appropriate infrastructure. It is still waiting on a much-needed second ASD class and an upgrade to the current one. Several parents of children attending Holy Family National School in Rathcoole have contacted me. Like many schools in my area, it does not receive the appropriate SNA supports. I am really concerned that Sacred Heart School, Sruleen, did not receive a home-school community liaison officer despite demonstrating the need, so I must ask again when we can expect the details of the memo to be published. Will the likes of Lucan Community College, Gaelscoil na Camóige, Gaelscoil Chulain Dolcáin, St. Kevin’s Community College, Holy Family National School and Sacred Heart School be supported on foot of the memo?

There is a deepening crisis in the provision of educational facilities for those with special needs. This is compounded by a crisis in both teacher recruitment and retention, particularly in Dublin, which is one of the most severely affected areas in the country. The most vulnerable students are impacted the most, especially when schools are unable to fill teaching positions. Special education teachers are moved from support roles to teaching mainstream classes. Additionally, the lack of sufficient funding for additional special needs classes means there will be a significant shortfall in such classes come September. Every year, my office receives representations on behalf of parents who are seeking to place their children in a special needs class. Christian, a young boy in my constituency, will be seven this year. His mother, Holly, has been struggling in recent years to find a place for him in a school that would provide the educational supports he needs. She is at her wit’s end as yet again she has no confirmed school place for him for the coming September. Christian has significant additional needs and has been recommended for a special school placement. Holly is a single parent with four children. She has made multiple applications to schools that could provide Christian with the supports he needs. However, to date, he has not been offered a place, leaving him without access to an education, which is his right. This has been deeply frustrating for both Holly and Christian. Having exhausted all avenues, parents like Holly feel isolated, forgotten and ignored. My constituency has also experienced unacceptable delays in the construction of urgently needed ASD units and special needs classes. It is very distressing for parents who expected that a special class or ASD unit would be open for the new school year to be told they have to wait another year before construction ever begins. To make a serious impact in Dublin North-West, resources and funding need to be sped up. The delivery of these badly needed facilities that are long outstanding needs to be sped up.

Reading through some of the messages and emails that I got before this motion, I was struck with the very real thought, namely, what exactly does the State have against children who require additional support? The fact that the Taoiseach called the Save our SNAs campaign flawed has done nothing but make that thought concrete in my mind. These are children who are denied school places and bused out of their own communities past their local schools for hours because the Government failed to plan. In Longford-Westmeath, families are exhausted. They are exhausted by a system that treats their child's additional needs as an inconvenience and exhausted by a special education system being redesigned by stealth. The Government has removed complex needs from a set of allocation criteria. This was not reform; it was rationing. The Government restricts SNA access through outdated rules. This is not efficiency; it is cruelty wrapped in bureaucracy. The Government announced inclusive classes that are larger yet have the same level of supports. That is not inclusion; it is dilution. The Government refuses to publish the true number of children who are still without places for school in September 2026. Why does it not do so? It is because the truth would expose the scale of Government failure. Children and families do not need another announcement or review. They need accountability and action. The Government must establish that all-party Oireachtas committee on the future of inclusive education and bring parents, teachers, SNAs, therapists, school leaders and educators into a public forum. It must reverse the restrictions that block children from accessing SNAs, recognise SNAs and the roles they play, reverse the junior and leaving certificate fees because it is penny pinching, row back on the school transport scheme fare increases at a time when the cost of living is biting families and guarantee every child a real school place, real support, real therapies and real equality. There should be no more spin, no more cuts by stealth and no more hiding behind announcements and re-announcements.

I thank those who contributed to the debate. The Government is not opposing the motion but this is only welcome if it actually acts on the proposals contained in it. The reason we brought forward this motion is because of a failure to predict and respond to the demand for special education. There are ample examples of Government failure. This year, it was a case of establish a portal, close a portal and lock people out of the system. There was a supplementary budget, a supplementary to the supplementary budget and delays. Delays mean access denied. We have a significant number of contributions of evidence and opinion, including the EPSEN review, the report of the Oireachtas Committee on Disability Matters, any amount of hearings of the Oireachtas education committee and the Department's own roadmap for inclusion. Fórsa and the teachers' unions know exactly what needs to be done. Across the board, and it is certainly my experience, we have a Department and Government that do not listen. If ever we needed an example of that, all we have to do is look at the Taoiseach. The last time we were here with a Sinn Féin motion talking about the SNA debacle of the Government's own making, the Taoiseach said we have to be careful if we look for extra SNAs. Today, he said that the Save our SNAs campaign was a flawed campaign. That is to completely deny the fact that communities across the country - families, parents, SNAs and school communities - know exactly what needs to be done. It is now time for the Government, the Department, the Minister and the Minister of State to listen.